The idea for The Hazard Chronicles actually developed over time, and didn’t even start until a year after we were married. In short though, it all began with a blog.
In 2007 Rachel and I were planning on moving to Cleveland for me to attend dental school. We were excited about the move and about the chance to live in the East for a while, but we also realized that we were cutting ourselves off from extended family by living so far away, and that they would have very little personal interaction with us for four years.
Around this same time the concept of blogging was becoming a big deal on the internet (just as a side note, it didn’t take long for most personal blogs to be replaced by social media like Myspace and Facebook). And so I created a blog and on a whim dubbed it “The Hazard Chronicles.” I figured this would be a good way for friends and family to stay connected with us as we lived out our own adventures in Cleveland.
When I created that blog I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. It soon took on a life of its own and started to demand more attention than I could give to it. If too much time went by without a post I would start getting phone calls asking for more pictures and updates. In truth, it became a little bit stressful.
It became obvious that a set routine was needed. After a while it was established that we would update the blog once (and only once) every week, usually on Sundays. This was a little more doable, but still took a lot of time and I was losing motivation.
In 2008 we “published” our first printed version of The Hazard Chronicles. Basically, we printed off all of the text from the blog and then had all of the pictures developed at Wal-Mart and glued them in the correct locations in a big three-ring binder. It was a large undertaking but we were proud of the final product. More importantly, I now had the motivation I needed to continue to update the blog each week because instead of merely filling people in on our lives I was now preserving these thoughts for years down the road. In other words, The Hazard Chronicles became our family journal.
With time the rudimentary three-ring binder was replaced by a nicer hard-cover printed version of The Chronicles, but it is still the same thing. And now, every Sunday I look forward to sharing some of my thoughts about my family and the things that happen to us. And I have found it to be a good exercise each week to look back and realize what things actually did happen. It’s really made me realize that there is no such thing as a “normal” week, or even a normal day, that there is always something extraordinary that stands out, and that daily family life truly is the most exciting adventure one can live.
In the current edition of The Hazard Chronicles (Our Story) we are writing in retrospect. Unlike other editions, this one is not dated. All of the stories in here come only from memories that, sadly, are starting to become hazy with time. Our aim is to record these important years before we forget any more- for this truly is the beginning of something that is truly remarkable- The Hazard Family. This is our story.
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